The present invention relates to guided configuration of data storage systems.
This application incorporates herein by reference as follows:
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/264,603, Systems and Methods of Multiple Access Paths to Single Ported Storage Devices, filed on Oct. 3, 2002;
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/354,797, Methods and Systems of Host Caching, filed on Jan. 29, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,979 B2;
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/397,610, Methods and Systems for Management of System Metadata, filed on Mar. 26, 2003;
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/440,347, Methods and Systems of Cache Memory Management and Snapshot Operations, filed on May 16, 2003;
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/600,417, Systems and Methods of Data Migration in Snapshot Operations, filed on Jun. 19, 2003;
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/616,128, Snapshots of File Systems in Data Storage Systems, filed on Jul. 8, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,313 B2;
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/677,560, Systems and Methods of Multiple Access Paths to Single Ported Storage Devices, filed on Oct. 1, 2003; and
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/696,327, Data Replication in Data Storage Systems, filed on Oct. 28, 2003.
A data storage system may include one or more hosts, management controllers, and data storage subsystems connected to each other using Ethernet or Fibre Channel (FC). FIG. 1 illustrates a data storage system 10 that includes a number of cables between the hosts 200 and 230, the management controllers 110 and 220, and the data storage subsystems 250 to 270. Each host may communicate with each data storage subsystem through a Fibre Channel arbitrated loop (Fibre Channel loop). Redundant Fibre Channel loops ensure multiple communication paths from a host to a data storage subsystem. The data storage subsystems 250, 252, 254, and 256 connect directly to the hosts 200 and 230, while data storage subsystems 260 and 270 are daisy chained to the data storage subsystems 250 and 252. Thus, misconnections at one data storage subsystem affect others.
The modular nature of a data storage system permits trained personnel to add and remove components to configure the data storage system to meet changing requirements. However, the cabling ports of the hosts and data storage subsystems are close to each other and users may insert cables in the wrong ports. Due to the number of connections, there are many opportunities for error. Although Fibre Channel cabling can be connected during operation, it must be done accurately and in the correct sequence to avoid disrupting data access. If configuring data storage systems could be made sufficiently easy and reliable, users could do it themselves when desired without the need for trained personnel.